[Electronics-talk] Inaccessible Appliances

[Gerald Levy]

There has been a lot of buzz on this list lately about inaccessible touchpad tablets and kiosks that are popping up in restaurants and brick-and-mortar stores.  But what about the appliances being sold by these stores?  Many of them, especially ovens, washing machines, window air conditioners and even refridgerators now have electronic touchpads instead of mechanical controls.  In some cases, the touchpads can be labeled with tactile markers, but not always.  What about commercial washers and dryers that are now the norm in most laundrimats and apartment building laundry rooms?  How does a blind person use these machines without sighted help if labeling their inaccessible touchpads is impractical or forbidden?  And what about those inaccessible laundry card vending machines for adding monetary value to a plastic laundry card that is used to activate these machines?  At least in a restaurant or store there is almost always staff on hand to provide assistance with the electronic tablets and kiosks.  But in a laundry room or laundrimat, there is not always somebody around to ask for help.  Installing your own washer and dryer in your apartment and modifying its touchpad as you see fit is not always practical or may be forbidden outright.  Yet another example of how blind consumers are falling further and further behind their sighted peers as technology becomes ever more sophisticated and less user friendly.

Gerald